Morpeth march on at top of the table

Effective and efficient, Morpeth Town claimed three points on a bitterly cold afternoon at Sunderland RCA’s Meadow Park ground on Saturday.

A goal in each half was enough to see Morpeth to another away day success, David Carson netting in the 33rd minute before Sean Taylor blasted home a second on 81 minutes

It was Sunderland who started the brighter of the two and had early chances but Stephen Callen’s two strikes forced decent saves from the debutant stopper. Colin Larkin was next to go close on 18 minutes with a free kick.

Morpeth were sporadic in attack, but hit the front 12 minutes before the interval through David Carson. The midfielder collected a loose ball from a corner before lashing home a low drive from 20 yards through a crowd of legs.

It was the difference between the two sides at the halfway point but Morpeth set about extending that advantage and Elliott just failed to find the target when he connected with a free kick.

The Highwaymen were in control of matters in the opening stages of the second period.

Callen headed just wide for Sunderland, but it was a costly error for the hosts as Morpeth found the net for a second time through Taylor with nine minutes to go. The midfielder ghosted in behind the full-back down the right side and lashed home a strike, past Keith Finch, to give the visitors a cushion for the first time in the game.